Goede Ready for State Park Return in Flip Merwin Memorial

18Jun

Jacob Goede is set to make his Flip Merwin Memorial debut this Thursday at State Park Speedway. The race, in honor of Flip Merwin, a snowmobile racer who was killed at the World Championships, holds special meaning to the Goede family, which adds motivation to the Minnesota driver’s first trip to the Wausau, Wisconsin racetrack for this event.

“We are pretty big into snowmobile ice oval racing and with Matt’s injuries the last couple years, it hits closer to home,” Goede told Speed51.com. “So, I feel it would be good to support the event. Also, State Park Speedway looks to be trying hard and I want to support the track.”

It’s been six years since Goede raced at State Park Speedway, but he found success there in the past. He holds finishes of third, fourth and ninth from 2011-2013 with the ARCA Midwest Tour. In the ever-evolving Super Late Model world, a lot can change in six years, but Goede feels his baseline knowledge will help him get dialed in Thursday night.

“We race well in 2011 and 2012,” said Goede. “I went through some notes to try and refresh my memory, but set-ups have changed to much since then. I should at least get the gear close. I know it’s rough, low grip and really fun to race on.”

Over the past few years, Goede’s name has not been on the score sheets for many Super Late Model races, but he’s been a mainstay at his hometrack of Elko Speedway. The Elko, MN track changed to Big 8 Late Model rules a few years ago, so Goede’s focus has been there, winning the last five straight track championships.

“Elko switched to Big 8 Late Models, so my Super Late Model schedule has been very limited,” said Goede. “I rebuilt and put together a different Super late year and it has been pretty good so I want to race it more. Elko works well with the family, but I would like to run select Super special when time allows.”

Goede is tinkering with the idea of using the Flip race as a tune-up for the ARCA Midwest Tour event at State Park Speedway which was reschedule from May to July 27th with the Larry Detjens Memorial race. There’s a chance they could even make the weekend a family affair.

“We’re going to have some fun at the Flip race, hopefully we can learn a little bit and possibly come back for the Tour race in July,” said Goede. “Maybe I can talk Matt into dusting his car off and racing the Big 8 race Friday night that weekend too.”

The Flip Merwin Memorial race kick off Speed51.com’s Summer Thunder series, so Speed51 paid network members will be able to watch all the action from State Park Speedway live on Speed51.com. Click here to learn more about Summer Thunder TV, or click here to sign up today and watch the Flip Merwin Memorial.